From another perspective
by MarieTheManiac
Summary: How do the two youngest deal with Leonardo's and Raphael's constant fighting? ***no longer a one shot***
1. Guilt

A little fluffy something for in between. I know it's been a while since I've updated Broken Promises and trust me, I'm working on the following chapters. It's just really annoying when you know exactly what you want to write but can't find any fitting words. Life of an author. You guys know it.

Story inspired by:

"Gee, a fight between Leo and Raph?" "Oh, I didn't see _that_ coming." - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, Season One, episode 10 'The Shredder Strikes'

I've noticed that, in all the TMNT stories I've written, there is hardly ever any Donny and Mikey fluff. Which is weird considering how close they are. And since I've been giving sweet little Donny such hard times I figured I could give him some of his pride back by letting him comfort his little brother. Some people (including me) seem to forget sometimes that Donny is a big brother, too. A really great one at that. And that particular moment in the series made me wonder just how much the two youngest really suffer under their older brothers' constant fighting. We all know how bad those fights can get.

Enjoy!

* * *

Donatello lay still, not even blinking as he stared up at the ceiling while listening to the sound of his older brothers' loud voices and harsh words, trying to outdo each other.

"The reason I paired us up the way I did was so none of them would get hurt! And you can't even-!" "Don't ya play dat one on me, Fearless! Don't think ya can get me on some kinda guilt trip or somethin'!"

Donny shifted in his bed, carefully lifted his bandaged arm in front of his face.

"_You_ were supposed to protect _him_, not the other way around!" "Don't ya stand here and dare ta think for a second dat I didn't protect him! I protect him all the fuckin' time, if ya haven't noticed over how much ya love yerself!"

Donny grimaced in pain as he ran his right hand over the bandages. The wound was deep enough to have scraped his bone. _But by far not bad enough for those idiots to jump at each other's throats_, Donny thought and sighed loudly.

"If you protect him so well then he wouldn't have got hurt in the first place!" "Don't push it, Leo! I'm _dis_ close ta smashin' ya head into the ground!" "It's hard for me to believe that, when you're even too incompetent to-!"

A noise that sounded too much like a fist colliding with a jaw rang through Donatello's ears and he winced. He grabbed his pillow and put it over his head, trying to mute the angry snarls and growls of his fighting brothers, much like a little kid would try to muffle the sound of a thunderstorm. Only that this thunderstorm was inside the house. And you never knew just when it would come back again. You only knew that it definitely would.

And this time it was Donatello who had brought it to life.

The door of his and Leo's shared bedroom creaked. Donny didn't have to turn his head to know who the intruder was. Without any hesitation, Donny shifted away from the ladder of his bed, making as much room as possible and lifting up the blanket. Soft steps echoed in his ears as the intruder approached, slowly making his way up the ladder. Donny could hear a faint sniffle.

Michelangelo plopped down next to the slightly older turtle, burying his head into the crook of Donny's neck. Donny used his good arm to pull Mikey closer, his arm behind Mikey's neck, slowly stroking up and down his right arm with his right hand. Mikey wrapped his arms around his big brother and cuddled even closer, shivering as soft sobs wrecked his body. Donatello made soft shushing sounds and nuzzled the top of Mikey's head while in the back of his mind he was still upbraiding himself.

Starting a fight between his two older brothers had not been his intent. It never was. He had simply reacted out of instinct. As he had seen the Purple Dragon point his gun at Raph, all rational thought and the considerations of what consequences might occur had vanished from Donny's mind and were replaced by a mantra: _Save big brother_.

The pain had been unbearable. Donny had feared that with his screams, he would wake up the entire city. But at the same time, as he had heard Raphael's roar and the sound of breaking bones knew that he had chosen the lesser of the two evils. A bullet in his arm, he could live with that. But being responsible for a brother's death? He was still recovering from Ultimate Drako's future and knew that was more tormenting than one could imagine.

The fight had already begun on the phone. Donny had tried his best to silence himself but it was as if the pain would have had consumed his being, making every fiber of his body scream. Raphael had been shivering as Donny's head had rested against his plastron while explaining the situation to their leader. Leo had been furious and from what Don had understood, he had blamed Raph for being too inattentive and too focused on busting heads instead of watching their little brother's back. Raphael had denied those allegations, snapping at Leo. Only as Donny had grabbed for Raph's hand he grew silent.

The fight had continued in the sewers. After the call, Leo had wanted them to meet down at the drainage junction which neither of the pairs was far away from. Donny's screams had subsided then, his lungs burning, his body so weakened that Raphael had had to carry him. And Donny's mind had been right before fading into, at the time, blissful nothingness. The last thing he remembered from there were Mikey's sky blue eyes, filled with tears of fear and confusion. And the yelling.

So much yelling. And it was all because of Donny's recklessness.

The youngest turtles sobs got fainter until they stopped, Mikey now breathing smoothly while lying next to the genius. Donny pressed a soft kiss to Mikey's forehead, pulling him even closer.

"Donny?", Mikey whispered after a few moments of silence. Donny made "Hm?" to show the younger turtle that he was listening. Mikey lifted his hand, softly grabbing at Donny's injured arm to take his hand.

"You know that this isn't your fault…do you?" Donny didn't reply to that, didn't know what answer he could give his younger brother who had, once again, read his emotions like a Silver Sentry comic book.

Neither of them said another word as the two youngest held each other, the sounds of their older brothers' physical battle filling their ears and poisoning their innocent souls.


	2. Strange Sensation

You are all allowed to hit me for the chapter taking so long. But not in the face! Please? Glasses and stuff.

I hope you like the new chapter. Some of you asked for me to continue and I was like: "Hmm...why not?" and here we go!

I plan on making this a three shot but only time will tell. And for those of you who wonder when and if Splinter will take action: he will!

Enjoy!

* * *

The first thing Donny noticed after waking up was that Mikey was gone. His eyes grew wide. Morning practice had probably already started. He bolted up in his bed, gasping when his injured arm accidently touched the wall. As he clutched it to his chest he spotted a note on his right side. Slowly he let go off his bandaged arm and grabbed the note.

_No practice for you until your wound has fully healed. No discussion!_

_Father_

Donny smiled and rubbed his eyes with his right hand. Now that he was up he couldn't go back to sleep anymore anyway. He might as well check on Mikey.

The smile on Donny's face froze when he remembered yesterday's events. Leo's and Raph's fight had continued for what had seemed like hours. The last thing Donny could remember before falling asleep was the sound of blades meeting blades. It was the coldest and most terrifying thing he had ever heard. And therefore an essential part of his following nightmare.

Donny shuddered. The nightmare had been horrible. It had taken place on some kind of field in the middle of nowhere. The grass had been black and gray, the sky of a dark reddish color. Leo and Raph had been savage, snarling monsters made out of darkness, with hunched backs and claws as long and sharp as their individual blades. They had tried to rip each other's head off, surrounded by raspy voices that had been whispering things like 'Hothead' and 'Mr. Perfect' and Donny wasn't sure if that had not been the influence of the events happening outside of his dream. Anyways: Mikey had been in the dream, too.

Donny gulped as his stomach turned. Mikey had been a turtle tot, probably not even five years old. He had been watching the bizarre scene, his eyes wide with fear and sparkling with tears. Then he had screamed, so loud and sharp that the whole nightmarish world had been vibrating. His screams had kept getting louder until Donny's vision had been blinded and a terrible bursting sound had rung through his head. Then there had only been blood. Blood blocking his vision, so that he had only been able to make out silhouettes of what had happened.

Donny gulped once more. He didn't even want to guess what would have awaited him behind the curtain of blood.

He put his head in his hand, taking calm and steady breaths to ease the sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe if he and Mikey were lucky, Leo and Raph had let the whole thing go so the nightmare wouldn't repeat itself tonight.

Without realizing it Donny chuckled bitterly at the thought. Leo and Raph letting a fight go. It was like wishing for snow in July.

When his stomach had calmed a little, Donny slowly climbed down the ladder of his bed, careful not to hurt his arm. He yawned and made his way down into the kitchen.

His brothers were sitting at the breakfast table, sweaty and exhausted. Morning practice had to be already over then. Donny suddenly felt another pull inside his stomach and the urge to retreat back to his room. Leo and Raph were glaring at each other. If their eyes had been daggers, neither of the two oldest would still be standing.  
Those icy glares were almost as unbearable as the actual fights.

Without saying anything Donny dropped down next to Mikey who beamed at him. But Donny could see behind the façade. Mikey had bags under his eyes and unshed tears burned in them.

"Morning, sleeping beauty! Slept well?"

Donny smiled at his little brother and patted his head with his uninjured hand. "Thanks. How about you?"

Mikey didn't miss the fact that Donny hadn't answered his question. His grin fell a little. His gaze darkened. "Same here."

Donny nodded and understood. He felt something strange come up inside his chest. As if something tried to burst out of him.

By now, Leo and Raph had managed to look away from each other and at Donny. "How are you feeling, Don?" "Everythin' alright, bro?" They both spoke at the same time, causing them to once again glare at each other as if to say 'You have no right to ask him that'. Donny's hand dug into his right knee. Mikey placed his hand above Donny's to reassure him. Donny noticed that the younger was shaking. It made the strange sensation inside him grow.

When the two oldest didn't receive an answer from the second youngest they asked once more.

"Do you need anything, Donny?" "Want any painkillers?"

Glare. Donny almost couldn't bare his sickness anymore. He took a long, deep breath through his nose so Leo and Raph wouldn't notice and tried his best to smile. "I'm fine, guys." His voice was raspy when he added a reluctant 'Thank you'. Donny squeezed Mikey's hand, then stood up to get himself a glass of water to calm his stomach. But-

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" "Yer s'posed ta rest, little brother!"

Donny could almost _feel_ the glare they shot at each other. He felt one brother grab his right arm and the other placing his hands on Donny's shoulders. Donny closed his eyes. Then turned around, shaking off his brothers' hands. He managed a small smile.

"I was just getting myself a glass of water", Donny spoke softly, his stomach and chest clenching.

Leo put on a stern look, similar to his 'I am the leader so do what I say' look. "Then why didn't you just ask me to get it?"

Donny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't bother hiding his discomfort. Because-

"Why _you_?"

Donny opened his eyes, not surprised. Raph was glaring daggers at Leo, his hands were balled to fists and shaking. Leo was standing there like the mightiest of the mighty, trying to glare Raph down from above. "_Me_ because _you_ are the one responsible for his injury!"

Raph growled, not even slightly impressed by Leo's appearance. "Do ya think I let it happen on purpose? Do ya think I stood there and _watched_ Donny getting shot?!" "I think that if you would've kept an eye on him as you should have-!"

Donny's tuned his older brothers out at that, his gaze went right through them, focused only on Mikey. He had his back to them. Donny could see that his head had sunk and he was shivering ever so slightly. His mind was wiped clear of everything else, only wrapping around one thing. Mikey.

Donny walked past his older brothers, not even praising them a look. Not that they would have noticed anyway.

He placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder. The younger turtle looked up. His cheeks were wet and fresh tears were sparkling in his eyes. Donny's heart felt like it was pierced by thousands of needles.

He smiled softly. "Come on", he whispered. Mikey nodded and stood up, didn't protest when Donny grabbed his hand and pulled him away and out of the kitchen.

The two youngest sat down on the couch. Mikey was quiet, the only thing heard of him was the occasional sniffle. Donny was slowly stroking up and down Mikey's shell, waiting patiently.

"I never should have paired the two of you up in the first place! Donny would have been better off on his own!" "Says the one who almost let him drown as a kid!"

Mikey broke down sobbing. He clang on to Donny for dear life, buried his head into the older turtle's shoulder. Donny did his best to console Mikey with his one arm, pulled him close and rested his head on Mikey's. He wanted to say something, to reassure his only younger brother but the words didn't come.

The strange feeling inside Donny's chest kept growing.


End file.
